


Pieces into Place

by JonsaInTheNorth



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post-War for the Dawn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 06:53:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20944151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JonsaInTheNorth/pseuds/JonsaInTheNorth
Summary: Jon and Sansa’s daughter holds great joy for her first autumn. Yet he can’t help but think of all the truths she will someday have to face.





	Pieces into Place

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Taylor Swift's All Too Well. This is my contribution to the [Jon x Sansa October Challenge](http://jonxsansafanfiction.tumblr.com/post/151008685660/hi-everyone-to-celebrate-the-beginning-of-fall) from a few years ago.

All of five and wild as a wolf pup, their little girl frolicked through the vibrantly bright foliage that fell around their leaf-strewn path. Her blue-eyes were wide as she took in the strange new wonder that surrounded her. A gust played music on the rustling branches of the wolfswood, blowing the autumn leaves off the branches. She skipped between every new sight that reached her line of vision, a curious smile gracing her face.

The world was a rich explosion of amber and golden hues, bright against the dismal slate-grey of today’s sky. A warm spot of sun pounded on their backs through the skeletal tree branches, alleviating the sharp coolness of the nearly constant winds. Leaves danced through the crisp air, settling on the ground only after swirling round the trio walking in the woods. 

Lynara bent over to pick up a scarlet leaf. She giggled as she scampered to her parents’ side. “Look, Father! It’s just like Mother’s hair!” 

“And yours, little one.” Jon plucked the offered foliage from her outstretched hand. He twirled the leaf by its stem and Lynara burst into another fit of laughter. She spun about so forcefully she nearly knocked his oaken cane out of his hand. She skipped ahead again, plucking more leaves off the forest floor until she had a whole bouquet clutched between her tiny hands.

Jon reached next to him to clasp his wife’s free hand in his own. He considered his daughter as she went about her merry collecting, oblivious to what this new season signaled to those old enough to remember. His carefree child, innocent to the world of winters and the woken dead, who still thought that all of her Uncle Bran’s tales were legends and lore rustled up to scare little girls into eating all their pease and carrots.

He squeezed Sansa’s hand tight. She glanced over and offered him a soft, close-lipped smile. “I understand, love. But she doesn’t need to know. Not today.”

A wicker basket swung on Sansa’s other arm, lid closed tight against the natural elements. Beneath the cover, apples and bread and cheese filled the basket, all wrapped up neatly inside the blanket they would soon sit down upon.

After everything they had been through, from the court of King’s Landing to the service of the King-Beyond-the-Wall, to the dangers of Petyr Baelish and the unrest in the North, to the war against the Others and helping Bran rebuild the world after it- after all of this, Sansa has strove to provide every happy memory she can for their precious little girl.

She has organized days running through fields, week-long visits to Arya and Rickon and their own families, tea parties and dances, days of play and days of learning, anything to make Lynara’s childhood the most enthralling it can be. Their daughter has wanted for nothing, but now as autumn settles around them, he cannot help but wonder how this new season will be.

Certainly, Lynara has seen the joys the snow has to offer- summer snows are just as good as any other for hurling snowballs at her cousins, afterall- but there is still some fear that all their sacrifice has not held the evils of the world at bay, that the darkness will come roaring from the snowbanks that will pile high around the castle, great and wide and open and ready to devour the entirety of those that remain.

Ahead of them, the road opened into a clearing. Lynara stood still in the middle of the glade, hands at her side as the wind rustled the grass at her ankles. Piles of leaves rested at the bottom of naked trees, their boughs clattering a song all their own.

“Mother...” She murmured, pointing at the sky. “Is there anything more beautiful?”

“Oh, my summer child, I don’t think there is.” Sansa sighed, eyes filled with the enchantment of it all.

The tears welled up in their wolf’s eyes. Lynara was a redheaded vision on a palate of color. Sansa ran ahead and scooped up the girl, spinning her round. The emotions fizzled and his stomach twisted as his two girls fell to the ground in a heap of laughter.

Jon limped towards them, leaning on his cane for support without Sansa at his side. He stared down at the breathless pair, unblinking until Lynara threw a pile of leaves at him. Jon lowered himself besides her in a fit of breathy laughs. 

Lynara stood up and spun around again, her skirt blaring out around her.

“Here, come help me, sweetling.” Sansa urged, and quickly their picnic was spread out across the dark grey blanket, piles of food for their luncheon meal. Jon spread soft cheese across a slice of thick brown bread, adding slices of sausage before handing it to Lynara. Soon, the triad were all eating.

The final masterpiece to their meal, a sweetened apples-and-berry pie Sansa had prepared herself, following the cook’s careful instructions in the great kitchens of Winterfell. Lynara’s face was covered in sticky berry smears by the end, but even Sansa laughed as she wiped it off.

Lynara stood and tugged at Jon’s sleeve. “Come, father!”

This was the future he had never taken time to envision, but that was now what he had. Jon ruffled Lynara’s hair before following after her as she ran through the piles of leaves, kicking them up at every corner. 

They returned to Sansa with their arms behind their backs, hands overflowing with newfound treasures.

“What are you two hiding?” Sansa asked, her eyebrow raised and a amused smile playing on her lips. 

Lynara was the first to show her mother the handfuls of acorns and buckeyes, useless seeds that still fascinated Lynara endlessly. 

Sansa accepted them with a laugh, even slipping a few in her basket to bring back to the gardeners of the glass gardens. “Whatever will we do with these?”

“Feed them to the squirrels!” Lyanara chirped, before darting off to chase after one of the nimble creatures.

Jon sat down besides his wife. Sansa slid up to him and settled in the crook of his arm. 

They watched Lynara in silence for a time. She ran across the patch of dappled sunlight that spread across the glade, her hair shining like copper and her smile shining like the sun. The innocence in her never failed to amaze him, who had to grow up so fast. He hoped she stayed like this forever, young and free from burdens and fears.

Sansa settled her hand against his chest, playing with the top button on his jerkin. “It’s a beautiful world, isn’t it?”

“It really is,” he agreed, as the picture fall into place in a way that felt completely right.

**Author's Note:**

> You can hit me up at [tumblr](https://www.starksinthenorth.tumblr.com) for more ASOIAF speculation and GOT fun.


End file.
